- If I was to go for a job and I was gonna tell the person
that was interviewing me how bad everybody else was,
I would never get that job.
And these politicians get into office by talking negative,
you know, all the time.
And it is for us to hold them to a certain standard.
- There's a noteworthy trend happening in Nevada.
The state has seen a surge in nonpartisan registered voters
who consider themselves neither Democrat or Republican.
Going back to 2019, there has been a steady uptick
in the number of unaffiliated voters there.
Now out of the Silver State's 1.
8 million active voters, the nonpartisan is nearly on par
with the number of registered Democrats and Republicans.
And when it comes to being a state
with a tight US Senate race,
this statistic has the potential to matter nationally.
We sat down with members of a community group in Las Vegas
that hopes to mobilize like-minded Nevadans.
Here's what's on their mind.
Why did you become an unaffiliated voter?
- Okay, let me start by saying I've been a lifelong Republican.
As I look back over my voting history,
I've never voted across my --
on my party line straight across the board.
It was always, "Okay, who aligned with my value system?"
Being a Black woman and also a Native American,
I see things differently than most people,
and once Trump was running and the visceral of America
just started showing itself during the pandemic,
it was very clear to me
that I needed to be an independent voter.
I could no longer just go with Democrats or with Republicans.
- I became an independent
because I would go to Republican events,
I would go to Democratic events, and I felt lost in the middle.
There was no -- You know, and when I normally vote,
I vote for whoever I believe is the best person.
I focus on the people over the party
and their policy over the politics,
is really what it is.
And I just felt like there was no other place that I could be.
The independents, in my opinion, if they'd come out,
even just 5% to 10%,
whatever way they vote is going to sway the election.
- About this Senate race, because it is so close
and the nation likely will be watching it,
if I could see a show of hands,
do you all know who you're going to vote for in that race?
Have you made up your minds?
- Oh, yeah. - Personally, yes.
- Okay.
And do you feel that both those candidates --
Cortez Masto or Laxalt --
have they done all they could to meet voters
who have the type of concerns that you have?
- You know, that's really a tough question
because can a politician ever do as much as they possibly can?
I think they've done what they could.
Can they always do more?
Absolutely, 100%, I think they could be doing more.
- I say no.
I really say no because it's almost like a show, right?
It's a reality-show kind of thing.
I think they need to get back
and talk to the people where we're at.
- There are two national issues that I've seen in
just seeing ads being played here.
One is abortion.
The other one is January 6th.
Where do those issues rank on your list of things
that you care about when you vote
for whoever you're voting for for Senate?
- If you lead with abortion, you lose me.
Doesn't matter what else I agree with you on.
Well, you don't know what's going on with that woman.
We live in a state that is known for sex trafficking.
Las Vegas is a place where you're supposed to get lost
and you're not supposed to be found.
And sex trafficking is a strong, strong problem in our state.
- On the January 6th, they'll do their job,
and end of the day, they'll come up with a finding.
I just hope that the process is fair.
But by all means, you know, I don't know much about it,
but whatever I saw on TV was terrible.
- When it comes to other issues that voters care about here,
what would you say ranks the top issue right now for you?
- The biggest issue over here is crime,
or next would be education. - Yeah, no, no.
Education, yeah, has been --
always been an issue here in Nevada.
- Education, access to care, housing as a right.
- Nevada wages is not very high,
and the cost of living is out of control.
And so there is a total disparity
between your income and the cost of living,
especially housing cost, food cost, and gas cost.
Those are three things that's totally out of control.
- We missed one great big issue -- water.
- Yeah.
- Yes, there it is.
- So our levels are so low.
They're almost so low,
in the next six months to a year or two,
if the dam gets any lower, it's gonna stop working.
That's gonna be a problem.
Yes, as you can see, we agree on a lot of things,
and some things we don't.
But we come to a meeting of the minds.
- That's why we have a bottle of wine all the time.
I mean, it smooths out everything.
- It's really a case, but he's trying to be nice.